Police Take Meth, Heroin, Gun, Grenades off Streets

Two live hand grenades police seized does not mean that officers are yet changing their approach to crime. Photo courtesy Unified Police Department

By Rhett Wilkinson

Police don’t plan yet on
changing their approach to crime after two live hand grenades were found in
Midvale, police say.

That’s because the
seizure of the explosives was an “isolated event,” Lt. Lex Bell said.

“It’s the first time we’ve
dealt with it,” Bell said. “If it happens again, there’s obviously a lot more
cause for concern.”

When contacted by the
Midvale Journal, Midvale City spokeswoman Rori Andreason deferred to police.

The Midvale Journal asked
personnel about the size of the problem in the area and the city’s efforts to
rid the community of the issues.

Multiple high-scale
seizures were made within days of each other, prompting concern of a cartel
presence in the area. Police on Sept. 4 also found 23.5 pounds of meth, 5.5 pounds of heroin and a stolen
handgun, besides the grenades. The estimated street value of the seizures is
nearly $800,000. The bust came just days after authorities seized narcotics with a
street value of $1 million in West Valley city.

Police made the discovery
after arresting Anthony Richard Aguilera at the Staybridge Suits at 747 Blue
Vista Lane. A detective was told that Aguilera had a room there. Aguilera has
been indicted and transferred to federal custody, Bell told the Midvale
Journal.

Unified
Police Department detectives assigned to the Taylorsville Precinct Street
Crimes Unit, Metro Gang Unit and members of the Utah County Major Crimes
Taskforce have been working a joint investigation into a drug trafficking
organization smuggling large amounts of meth and heroin into the Salt Lake valley.

In the “meth lab days” of
the 1980s and 1900s, police heard about booby-trapped locations. But there isn’t
much talk about booby traps anymore, Bell said.